Benchmarks trade marginally lower in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made a cautious start and are trading marginally in red in early deals on Thursday, as traders remain concerned with report that volatile crude oil prices, a strong dollar and rising US bond yields has resulted in foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turning big sellers in the Indian market. Out of the 425 companies on the BSE-500 index, for the quarter ending December (Q3), there has been a decline in FII holdings in 256 companies, while only 169 companies saw net buying by FIIs. Some cautiousness also crept in with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data showing that both bank credit as well as deposits growth marginally declined on a fortnightly basis, clipping at 14.5 percent at Rs 94.29 lakh crore deposits grew at a tepid 9.63 percent to Rs 121.22 lakh crore for the fortnight ending February 1. However, losses remain capped with report that the cabinet is expected to soon consider a proposal of FDI-linked relaxation for mandatory 30 per cent local sourcing norms for foreign single brand retailers by allowing them more time to comply with regulations.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red despite investors hoping for progress in the latest China-US tariff talks. The US markets ended higher on Wednesday as investors greeted positive signs on US-China trade talks and higher oil prices lifted petroleum-linked equities.

Back home, public sector banks (PSBs) remained in focus with report that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on February 13 imposed penalties of Rs 5 crore on four PSBs including State Bank of India (SBI) and Corporation Bank for violation of various banking norms. In scrip specific developments, Yes bank zoomed as RBI finds no divergence in provisioning, asset classification and ABB India edged higher on getting nod to segregate power grids business from other businesses.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35979.41, down by 54.70 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 35893.49 and 36109.10. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.10%, while Small cap index was down by 0.20%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.71%, Bankex up by 0.35%, Realty up by 0.27%, Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services up by 0.23% and FMCG was up by 0.05%, while Telecom down by 1.62%, Oil & Gas down by 1.14%, Utilities down by 1.06%, Energy down by 0.99% and PSU was down by 0.87% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 20.14%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.99%, Tata Motors up by 1.42%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.37% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.27%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.95%, Coal India down by 1.68%, NTPC down by 1.53%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.44% and Power Grid Corporation down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest report has showed that bank credit growth increased by 14.5 percent at Rs 94.29 lakh crore, while deposits grew at a tepid 9.63 percent to Rs 121.22 lakh crore for the fortnight ending February 1. Though, both credit and deposits growth of bank declined marginally on a fortnightly basis.

In the previous fortnight ended January 18, credit had increased by 14.61 percent to Rs 93.32 lakh crore and deposits grew by 9.69 percent to Rs 119.86 lakh crore. The decline was mainly driven by the poor show by agriculture and allied activities and the personal loans during the week.

While credit demand from agriculture and allied activities grew by 8.4 percent in December 2018, compared to an increase of 9.5 percent in December 2017, industrial credit rose by 4.4 percent in December 2018 over 2.1 percent in the year-ago month.

Similarly non-food credit also increased faster at 12.8 percent year-on-year basis in December 2018 compared to a 10 percent growth in the same month last year. In the reporting month, credit to the services sector almost doubled to 23.2 percent as against 14.7 percent year- ago period but personal loans growth decelerated to 17 percent from 18.9 percent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10770.75, down by 22.90 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 10749.90 and 10792.70. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 21.51%, Indiabulls Housing up by 4.22%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.16%, Zee Entertainment up by 1.98% and Cipla up by 1.93%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 3.02%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.99%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.88%, GAIL India down by 1.87% and Coal India down by 1.84% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Straits Times slipped 3.43 points or 0.11% to 3,241.34, HANG SENG decreased 105.46 points or 0.37% to 28,392.13, KOSPI shed 6.45 points or 0.29% to 2,195.03, Jakarta Composite slipped 3.82 points or 0.06% to 6,415.30 and Shanghai Composite was down by 8.64 points or 0.32% to 2,712.43. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 gained 18.51 points or 0.09% to 21,162.99 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 28.22 points or 0.28% to 10,118.80.